---
title: "The Nizar Banat Case and PA Judicial Independence"
description: "Security personnel arrested activist Nizar Banat in June 2021; he died in custody. Fourteen officers were charged, but by the State Department’s 2023 report the trial remained delayed and concerns persisted about its fairness and independence."
url: "https://hasbara.co.il/resources/palestinian-authority-governance-corruption-and-decline/subjugation-of-the-palestinian-authority-judiciary"
type: "resource-page"
locale: "en"
categories: ["Arab Settlers Authority: Governance, Corruption, and Decline"]
---

# The Nizar Banat Case and PA Judicial Independence

*Security personnel arrested activist Nizar Banat in June 2021; he died in custody. Fourteen officers were charged, but by the State Department’s 2023 report the trial remained delayed and concerns persisted about its fairness and independence.*

Security personnel arrested political activist Nizar Banat at a residence near Hebron in the early hours of 24 June 2021. He died shortly afterward in PA custody. Fourteen security personnel were charged in connection with his death; the proceedings were delayed.

## Arrest, death, and investigation

The US State Department’s [2021 human-rights report](https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/) records Banat’s death in custody and says 14 low-level security personnel were arrested in July. The 2023 report says the 14 officers were charged and that the military-court trial continued amid concerns about impartiality and fairness. It also reports that all 14 had been released on bail by that reporting period.

The case centers on the officers charged and the investigation and trial that followed.

## What the case says about courts

The Basic Law formally separates authorities and guarantees judicial independence, but the US State Department has repeatedly reported significant problems with judicial independence and executive interference. The Supreme Constitutional Court dissolved the Legislative Council in December 2018 and called for elections within six months. No elections followed the court’s order, and the legislature remained inactive.

Banat died in state custody, officers were charged, and the military-court trial faced concerns about fairness.

## Why accountability remains an open test

The State Department’s [2023 report](https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/) describes the charges and concerns about the trial. Its [2022 report](https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/) describes the lack of national elections and the nonfunctioning legislature. Together, these records show why independent oversight matters: policing and courts need checks that can operate even when the executive is politically dominant.

## Pages

- [How the PA’s Patronage and Aid System Works](/resources/palestinian-authority-governance-corruption-and-decline/palestinian-authority-corruption-and-misappropriation-of-foreign-aid.md)
- [PA Elections: 2006, the Gaza Split, and the 2021 Cancellation](/resources/palestinian-authority-governance-corruption-and-decline/the-2006-palestinian-legislative-defeat-and-hamas-split.md)
- [PA Payments to Prisoners and Families](/resources/palestinian-authority-governance-corruption-and-decline/the-martyrs-fund-pa-payment-structures-for-terrorism.md)
- [Who Could Succeed Mahmoud Abbas?](/resources/palestinian-authority-governance-corruption-and-decline/the-abbas-succession-crisis-and-ramallah-s-power-vacuum.md)
- [PA Security Forces and Armed Groups in Judea and Samaria](/resources/palestinian-authority-governance-corruption-and-decline/security-collapse-and-autonomous-militias-in-the-west-bank.md)
- [Municipal Services and Fiscal Strain in Judea and Samaria](/resources/palestinian-authority-governance-corruption-and-decline/the-decline-of-palestinian-authority-municipal-governance-and-services.md)

## Sources

- [2021-2025.state.gov](https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/)
- [2021-2025.state.gov](https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/)
- [2021-2025.state.gov](https://2021-2025.state.gov/reports/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/west-bank-and-gaza/)